Mr. Kipper
World Geography (3)
31 Jan. 00

Basically, the point of this article was to denounce the use of the Confederate flag for any purpose not intended to be racist or hateful. It's a hard situation for anyone to really make a good decision on, but most people feel strongly about it anyway; that's the way it is with most tough problems, after all.

The article refers to the Confederate flag as a symbol of slavery and racism and as "morally reprehensible," going on later to say the Civil War was fought over slavery and only over slavery, thus making any representation of the Confederacy one of racism. First of all, I know that you do think the Civil War was fought almost completely over just the issue of slavery, but I disagree with this. I sincerely believe that, while slavery was definitely a primary issue during the Civil War, it was by no means the only one. The real issue truly was states' rights, no matter what the morally simplistic 4th grade history lessons like to instil in kids in an effort to keep the illusion that there's always a good side and a bad side going just a little longer. Historically, if you really stop and think about it, the American Revolution and the Civil War are eerily similar. Both featured a group of underdogs (states' rights, colonists' rights?) trying to fight their way out from under the wings of a parent government that was limiting what they could and could not do. There is one major difference: In one conflict, the underdogs won; in the other, the parent government eventually crushed the resistance. And the side that ended up winning is the side written as "the good guys" in the history books.

Please note that I do not advocate former Southern slavery or white supremacy in any form, and I'm not trying to say I think we should plaster the Stars and Bars all over Texas and then thumb our noses at people who whine about it. But until we realise that the Civil War was about more than slavery, these petty debates about which flags are for evil people and which flags are for decent people will continue to rage.